A century ago, British and French engineers built vast railways through east Africa to export their coffee and tea to Europe. More than a hundred years after the heyday of African rail, another era of railway expansion is under way in the region.

As today’s developed countries grew richer, they experienced a process of ‘structural transformation’. This means they first went through a period of industrialization as the economic center of gravity shifted from agriculture to manufacturing, and then went through a period of deindustrialization,

Geoff Riley's insight:

To what extent should we be concerned about premature deindustrialisation in a number of emerging economies? Much depends on the root causes and the sustainability of the process of structural change - for example, can productivity growth and real income improvements be sustained in other industries such as farming, tourism and basic financial services?

A World Bank book – The Distributional Impact of Taxes and Transfers: Evidence from Eight Developing Countries– reveals that although fiscal systems are always equalizing, they often reduce the actual consumption of goods of the poor.

Geoff Riley's insight:

Taxes and transfers reduce inequality across all countries but the impact on poverty is uneven. Indeed some poor in lower and middle-income countries are net payers into the fiscal coffers of a government because of high taxes on consumption. This new report from the World Bank looks draws on evidence of tax and spend policies for eight developing / emerging countries.

This looks great for students and teachers really into their development economics. "Sustained growth takes place because of continuous technological upgrading, institutional innovation and structural change. At the heart of the process is an evolving set of factor endowments."

Protecting environmental assets in Africa's cities can increase the productivity and livability of these cities, improve tourism opportunities, and enhance resilience to the impacts of extreme weather events, according to a report titled

China and India have to foster productivity growth in order to avoid getting stuck in the middle income trap. The implementation of an ambitious innovation, education and institutional reform agenda would enable both countries to become the world’s new global growth catalysts.

Geoff Riley's insight:

Here is a superb economic analysis from the economics team at Rabobank on the key growth drivers for China and India. Great for revising the key determinants of economic growth and competitiveness and also excellent for picking up some specific policy reform detail.

China is investing billions in Sri Lanka, but many local citizens feel the country is being sold to the Chinese.

Geoff Riley's insight:

How beneficial is Sri Lanka's apparent dependence on China for inward foreign investment? This BBC article raises a number of questions not least the extent to which participation in the One Belt One Road Initiative will serve Sri Lanka's development prospects positively in the years to come.

For every hundred pounds that’s made in the UK, seventy pence goes overseas as foreign aid. Here's some basic facts and figures.

Geoff Riley's insight:

Here are the latest figures forUK aid spending - useful context given the political machinations especially among some Brexit-supporting MPs who favour shifting some of the aid budget towards their own domestic preferences.

London The prevailing narratives about corruption in Nigeria rarely mention its international dimension. They tend to gloss over how the United Kingdom, United States, and other financial centers welcome the steady stream of illicit cash flowing out Africa’s largest economy. Yet the country’s kleptocrats are increasingly exploiting weaknesses in the international financial system t

Geoff Riley's insight:

Deeply embedded corruption in countries such as Nigeria is an obvious barrier to development. Nigeria has lost an estimated $230 billion or more in illegal financial outflows since 2004: equal to $1,280 for every Nigerian citizen.

A major conference examines how to limit the more damaging impacts of intensive farming systems.

Geoff Riley's insight:

This article raises many questions about the sustainability of food production amidst the loss of bio-diversity on the planet. At least a discussion is being had although what concrete proposals emerge will be harder to assess.

The campaign group Oceana says the EU is wrongly allowing ships to fish off West Africa

Geoff Riley's insight:

Property rights are important to prevent the tragedy of the commons in industries such as fishing. The BBC reports here that in countries such as the Gambia, European and Chinese industrial fishing vessels are accused of illegal fishing which is threatening the sustainability of the industry and hitting domestic (and smaller) fishing businesses.

The overhaul of existing laws was carried out at a special midnight session of parliament.

Geoff Riley's insight:

This is an important but incredibly complex tax reform is being introduced in India. The main aim is to achieve more consistency for indirect taxes across the disparate Indian economy and in doing so, to raise tax revenues to give the Indian government more resources to fund development programmes / widen access to public goods.

Few think of North Korea as being a prosperous nation. But it is rich in one regard: mineral resources. Currently North Korea is alarming neighbors with its frequent missile tests, and the US with its attempts to field long-range nuclear missiles that can hit American cities. A sixth nuclear test could be imminent. A

Geoff Riley's insight:

North Korea sits on trillions of dollars of untapped wealth but lacks human capital & infrastructure to exploit

The shift towards solar power as an affordable source of renewable energy seems to be gathering pace. Economies of scale are lowering the unit cost of solar power and this article suggests that the collapsing price of solar is a key factor behind a decision to cancel plans to build some huge coal-fired power stations in India. The ramifications are global and it is an important piece of the growth and development jigsaw for India.

Progress by two of the world’s top greenhouse gas producers is a huge lesson for the United States.

Geoff Riley's insight:

Crucial evaluation example - emerging nations including China and India now leading the race to invest in capacity and capability in renewable energy. For India for example every $1 on a barrel of oil costs them an extra $2bn in oil import spending every year.

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